Success Story

Learn how Ranken Jordan Hospital built a national reputation for innovative care with a dedicated staff inspired by The FISH! Philosophy.

Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital

Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, located in St. Louis, MO, cares for seriously ill and injured children. The hospital has earned a national reputation for its innovative “Care Beyond the Bedside”. It is guided by a simple mission, expressed by founder Mary Ranken Jordan: “Consider the children first in all you do.”

Situation

Ranken Jordan moved into a new facility in 2004. It incorporated cutting edge medical technology with a colorful, playful environment designed to make children and families feel at home as they heal. To support its mission-led staff, Ranken Jordan adopted The FISH! Philosophy.

Objectives

  1. Deliver excellent customer service, creating a warm, caring environment for patients and families.
  2. Build strong multi-disciplinary teamwork.
  3. Complement advanced medical care with smiles and laughter to help children heal.
  4. Regularly show staff they are appreciated, increasing retention.
  5. Create a culture where staff believe and live the hospital’s mission and vision.
  6. Be flexible in finding solutions for unique patient situations

FISH! Approach

  • After FISH! was introduced, the staff focused on living each practice for at least a month. “FISH! isn’t something you schedule, like ‘Today we’re going to be there for each other at 10 o’clock’,” CEO Lauri Tanner says. “It’s a way of life.”

  • The hospital hung four huge banners, each with the name of a FISH! practice, in the entrance. The banners publicly proclaim “This is who we are and what we believe” to families, visitors and staff.

  • A FISH! Committee, made up of volunteers from each department, comes up with new celebration ideas and coordinates fun events that also keep employees connected to their beliefs.

  • Recognition and appreciation are huge. When staff see colleagues making a positive difference, they recognize them with a small plastic fish that symbolizes their shared commitment, or a T-shirt that says what they did to live one of the FISH! practices.

  • The hospital publishes a newsletter to honor employees who have been nominated by coworkers for living the team’s values. “We’re intentional about what we celebrate because those are things that move us forward,” says Angie Lantz, operations administrator.

  • Staff created a multi-disciplinary approach to solve unique challenges called The Calypso Collaborative.“People have more fun solving problems if it’s a little lighter and we are more effective because everybody’s not all tight,” says CEO Lauri Tanner.

Results

  • Regular customer service scores of 98 percent and higher.
  • Annual staff turnover less than 3 percent.
  • Annual revenues increased ten-fold in less than 10 years.

“The Fish! Philosophy is a natural fit for how we think and what our value systems are. The more we incorporate the Fish! philosophy into what we do, the better job we do and the better our patients do.”

– Dr. Nick Holekamp, medical director

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